Bachelors of Science Degree

B.S. - Great initials to follow your name.

Yep, that is right... I am going to be a college graduate in a little over 8 days. Notice in the invite it says we are 'ECSTATIC'. Its true. Justin will be done in December. I can't believe we are almost there, but am so grateful we are.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Wanna buy a basket?

Since I have been student teaching the last few months, I had the opportunity to also coach the Ag Sales Team for Sky View FFA. It was a blast and these students rock! It was funny, because I was so nervous at the contest for them, but it turned out great and they all made atleast one sale to their judges.

For this contest, students have to choose an agricultural product they would like to sell and then develop a brochure and sales demonstration. They also take a test on sales information and participate in a team activity selling a product.



They decided to sell produce baskets from 'Sky Gate Gardens'. It was a spin off of Bountiful Baskets that focuses on Utah's Own produce. (No it's not real, it was made up, but could be a cool idea) This team placed *GOLD* in the State Contest and I hope learned a lot in the process, I know I did.

Career Development Events are one of the best things about being an Ag Teacher. You get to work with students in developing real life skills and the actual contests are always fun.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

69,168 Feet, Here I Come!

This last weekend I had the opportunity to go to SLC with my older sister Mary and be her race 'mom'. Aka, get her where she needed to be, take pictures, give her snacks, water, etc. It was a blast and she did a fantastic job.

Races, whether they be a 5k or a half-marathon are awesome. To see so many people rise at the wee hours of the morning to get out there and push themselves to accomplish something that is hard. The energy it creates is so fun and can't necessarily be described.

I ran the same half-marathon back in 2008 and have since been wanting to do another. This summer, will be that time.

My goal- To run the Top of Utah Half-Marathon on August 27.


Me finishing the half-marathon.

That will be 69,168 feet or 13.1 miles. I have a lot of ground to cover before I get there. But I can't wait! I will update on my progress.


After pictures from 2008.....

I used to think it was hard just to run for 20 minutes. :)

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Senior Project Breakfast

I have posted a couple of times on Justin's senior project and its workings. Well, all of his hard work finally came to fruition as he presented his project on Thursday, April 14, at the ASTE building on USU's campus.

Parents, classmates, professors, and students came to see the efforts of all of those in the Senior project classes. Justin's parents and older brother also came to see his project. The professor, Dr. Beard, had a breakfast for all who came and then we wandered through the different projects and asked questions of the presenters.


Justin's brother Ben, Parents Barry & Jamie, and Justin and Me.


This was the professor, Dr. Beard, who was in charge of the class. He was very particular on what he expected of the projects and the write-ups. He was also very helpful in the design process. He also made fresh salsa for the breakfast, it was awesome.



Justin's new logo for his saw mill. His hometeaching companion is a Graphic Design major. He heard about Justin's project and asked if he could do a design for him. Of course Justin said sure and told him his original idea of "Woodchuck Sawmills." Logan took the idea and ran with it. What he came up with was much better than just "Woodchuck Sawmills"

His idea 'Chuck- portable sawmill systems' We loved it. Very clean and fresh.


This classmates project was a very nice, spacious dog house for his 14 year old dog. Anthony Barinaga is my younger brother's roommate and 'Raven' (the dog) made a special trip from Rupert, Idaho that morning to show everyone just how the dog house would work out.


This is Kevin (my brother), Sam Day (Kevin's old roomate and our good friend), and Anthony. Great guys that we have had a lot of fun with this semester. Thanks Kevin and Sam for coming to support us!

Justin is hoping to use this sawmill for some great summer projects. I am so proud of him and now, only one more semester to go until graduation!




Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Logan

On of the greatest blessings of living in Logan for the last four years of my life has been the temple. Before I was married, I was able to go about once a week and do baptisms. I would also almost always do my running on a route that involved the temple as part of the view along the way.(Killer hills right around there:)

Once we got married, Justin and I have been able to go quite frequently. We have learned alot in our times spent there and are so grateful for the blessings and promises temples bring into our lives. This is a picture Justin took one night in January.

Cache Valley is kind of unique for the location of the Logan temple. Almost anywhere you go in the valley I feel like you can see it. It is also one of the first sights you see when driving into the valley from Tremonton. A great centerpiece for an awesome area.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Flowers

The last unit I taught to my Floriculutre and Greenhouse class before I was done student teaching was on boutenniere making. Each student was given one carnation to use in their creation and we had a variety of colors. After we were done that day there were a few different colored carnation flowers left over. I used my limited creative floral design skills and put together this little bouquet.We enjoyed it for a week and it definitely brightened up the snowy spring of Logan.



I have a couple of different flower patterned shirts and wore them back to back days during one week. One of the students commented, "Do you really love flowers, because all of your shirts are flower patterned."

Well they aren't ALL flower patterened, but since that comment I have decided yes, I really do LOVE flowers alot. They are one awesome beautie of this earth.


Justin and Ruth Blazzard

SpRiNg BrEaK

This last week has been a much needed break from the craziness of the last few months. The things I have done during spring break

weeded*exericsed (almost everyday)*read a little bit of Jane Eyre*made cards* cooked*facebooked*blogged*mopped my kitchen*scrubbed the bathroom*dusted the living room*went to the DI*grocery shopped*went to Pepperidge Farms store*watched Cheaper by the Dozen (original version)& Sahara*got bored*worked at the Extension Office*napped*went to the temple*still need to make bread and go case lot shopping*tried to get fitted for a bridesmaid dress*did 2 SAE visits*talked on the phone*looked forward to graduation and finding a job*avoided house work*attended Ag-ri-Culture Club meeting*talked with my husband*cursed the snow*enjoyed the brief sunshine* spent too much money at Jo-Ann's*relaxed*

I was going crazy for a little while on having nothing to do, then I went to work at the Extension office and came home much more relaxed. Crazy how I sometimes can't stand the time I am given to relax. The card making I did was me trying to work on developing a hobby. I don't really have many or any and so I kind of like doing it and am thus expanding the time I spend doing it. Yay for Spring Break in Cache Valley.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Garden 2011

Each year since we have been married we have lived in a place that it has been possible to grow a garden. We love the opportunity to work in the soil and have the fresh produce it yields. We try to set goals every year of how to improve it and what we can do better. This year will hopefully be the best year yet. Justin took advantage of the nice weather this last weekend and tilled up the plot.




The tiller we got for a great deal last year and has come in handy several times so far. I am excited!



Justin and Ruth Blazzard

I Married a Logger

I look out my window and what do I see?






Yep, this is a pile of boards Justin has sawed with his new saw mill. He stacks them to 'dry' outside our front door because it has a covering over it. I never truly understood this man's passion for wood until now. He is wonderful and talented.



Justin and Ruth Blazzard

He's Got Wings

Justin loves snowmobiling. He grew up at the base of the Uintah mountains and for recreation his family always went sledding. When we were dating he had one. Then he sold it. I now wear the token of the snowmobile on my left ring finger. Yep, the revenue from its sale was used to purchase a little diamond ring that I love. Well, last week Justin had the opportunity to go play with his Dad, brothers and family friend on 2010 Ski Doo XP Sleds. He had a blast. I always slightly worry and here is why.

All I can say though is, "What a Stud!"

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

The books I have been reading

The last 13 weeks of life for Justin and I has been a great experience. It has been full of early mornings, late evenings, FFA activities, work, and alot of reading.

Justin's favorite reads for the last few months would be Scriptures, Top Tech Books for work, and Accounting 2010 (He has had a lot of fun with that class).

I have been reading and learning how to truly study and gain information from a variety of text books. Because of our dilligent effort to expand our knowledge, our home has books dropped in every location almost every day.

Here is the collection my nose has been buried in and why.


This would be the Horticulture and Livestock text I taught out of for Greenhouse and Animal Science. We became very good friends as I built powerpoints, double checked my previous understanding of the reproductive system, and wrote lesson plans.



These were second hand references for the Greenhouse, Animal Science, and Ag Biology classes. I checked them out from the ASTE library. You know you are serious when you study from multiple texts. :)



These are the books that kept me going.I am so grateful for the scriptures and know there is power in reading them.



The large blue one is a biography on Ardeth G. Kapp. What an awesome women. She also had the opportunity to student teach. I read a majority of this while I was sick in February. The other one "The Guernsey Literary and Potatoe Peel Pie Society," was the book of the month for book club. I highly recommend it to any one. That was a challenge, staying up on the reading for book club, but so fun. This month is Jane Eyre.



This isn't a book, but rather a publication. I have the wonderful opportunity to teach Relief Society on the fourth Sunday each month. I have had many hours studying and developing lessons from the words of the Prophets.


I am now excited to have time to finish reading the biography of Ardeth G. Kapp, Gone With the Wind, Jane Eyre, and anything else that catches my fancy. I may even head to the library and check books out. I have a renewed appreciation of the written word and am grateful books are so accessible for our learning.


Justin and Ruth Blazzard